Le Corbusier: Les Voyages d'Allemagne, Carnets (5 Volume Set)

Le Corbusier (1887-1965), the great Swiss-French architect, was unquestionably the most important figure in twentieth-century architecture. His work in both design and theory has never been equaled. His most famous buildings include Villa Savoye, Ronchamp Chapel, La Tourette, and Unité d'Habitation, and his manifesto, Towards a New Architecture, is still read by all students of architecture worldwide. This set of notebooks reveals the architect's early genius during his formative years. When he was a twenty-three-year-old student traveling through Germany in 1910, he created a record of his journey in both words and remarkable images. Sketching and writing in watercolor, charcoal, and colored pencil, he recorded antique and contemporary architecture, his encounters with influential architects, and anything that crossed his path that he deemed interesting. These sketchbooks are essential to understanding Le Corbusier's vision and growth as an architect. Published in a limited, numbered edition, the reproduction of the four notebooks is unparalleled. The pages are exceptional facsimiles of the originals, to the point of showing charcoal smudges. The transcription in the fifth volume is equally meticulous, with a clear system of notation to elucidate Le Corbusier's own shorthand and even his crossed-out text. Giuliano Gresleri's comprehensive introduction discusses not only the notebooks themselves but also their impact on Le Corbusier's life and future work.